House Bill 752

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-69-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972,
TO INCREASE THE EXCISE TAX ON CIGARETTES; TO SPECIFY THE AMOUNT OF THE DISCOUNT
OR COMPENSATION ON THE ADDITIONAL FACE VALUE OF STAMPS PURCHASED BY DEALERS TO
COMPLY WITH THE TAX INCREASE PROVIDED FOR BY THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 27-69-75,
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE REVENUE DERIVED FROM THE TAX
INCREASE PROVIDED FOR BY THIS ACT SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO THE SPECIAL FUND IN
THE STATE TREASURY TO THE CREDIT OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE-DIVISION OF MEDICAID;
AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

27-69-13.
(1) There is * * * imposed, levied
and assessed, to be collected and paid as hereinafter provided in this chapter,
an excise tax on each person or dealer in cigarettes, cigars, stogies, snuff,
chewing tobacco, and smoking tobacco, or substitutes therefor, upon the sale,
use, consumption, handling or distribution in the State of Mississippi, as
follows:

(a)
On cigarettes, the rate of tax shall be Eighteen-twentieths of One Cent
(18/20 of 1¢) on each cigarette sold with a maximum length of one hundred
twenty (120) millimeters; any cigarette in excess of this length shall be taxed
as if it were two (2) or more cigarettes.
* * * However, if
the federal tax rate on cigarettes in effect on July 1, 1985, is
reduced, then the rate as provided in this paragraph (a) shall be
increased by the amount of the federal tax reduction. That tax increase shall take effect on the first day of
the month following the effective date of the reduction in the federal
tax rate.

(b)
(i) In addition to the excise
tax levied by paragraph (a), there is levied an excise tax of Two and One-half
Cents (2 1/2¢)
on each cigarette sold with a maximum length of one hundred twenty (120)
millimeters; any cigarette in excess of this length shall be taxed as if it
were two (2) or more cigarettes.

(ii) On or before the fifteenth of August 2004, and each succeeding
month thereafter, the revenue derived from the excise tax on cigarettes that is
levied by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be deposited into the
special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of the Governor's Office-Division
of Medicaid as provided in Section 27-69-75.

(c) On cigars, cheroots, stogies, snuff, chewing and smoking tobacco
and all other tobacco products except cigarettes, the rate of tax shall be
fifteen percent (15%) of the manufacturer's list price.

(2)
No stamp evidencing the tax * * *
levied on cigarettes by this section shall be of a denomination of less
than One Cent (1¢), and whenever the tax computed at the rates * * * prescribed on
cigarettes in this section is a specified amount, plus a fractional part
of One Cent (1¢), the package shall be stamped for the next full cent. However, (a) the additional face
value of stamps purchased to comply with taxes imposed by subsection (1)(a)
and subsection (1)(c) of this section after June 1, 1985, shall be subject
to a four percent (4%) discount or compensation to dealers for their services
rather than the eight percent (8%) discount or compensation allowed by Section
27-69-31; and (b) the additional face value of stamps purchased to comply
with taxes imposed by subsection (1)(b) of this section after July 1, 2004,
shall be subject to a three percent (3%) discount or compensation to dealers
for their services rather than the eight percent (8%) discount or compensation
allowed by Section 27-69-31.

(3)
Every wholesaler shall purchase stamps as provided in this chapter, and
affix the same to all packages of cigarettes handled by him as * * * provided in
this section.

(4)
The * * * tax levied
by this chapter is levied upon the sale, use, gift, possession, or
consumption of tobacco within the State of Mississippi, and the impact of the
tax levied by this chapter is * * *
declared to be on the vendee, user, consumer, or possessor of tobacco in this
state. When the tax is
paid by any other person, the payment shall be considered as an advance
payment and shall thereafter be added to the price of the tobacco and recovered
from the ultimate consumer or user.

27-69-75.
(1) All taxes levied by
this chapter shall be payable to the commissioner in cash, or by personal
check, cashier's check, bank exchange, post office money order or express money
order, and shall be deposited by the commissioner in the State Treasury on the
same day collected. No remittance other
than cash shall be a final discharge of liability for the tax * * * assessed and
levied under this chapter, unless and until it has been paid in cash to
the commissioner.

(2)
The revenue derived from the taxes levied in Section 27-69-13(1)(b)
shall be deposited into the special fund in the State Treasury to the credit of
the Governor's Office-Division of Medicaid to be expended by the division for
the purposes authorized under the Mississippi Medicaid Law.

(3)
All tobacco taxes collected, including tobacco license taxes, except
for those revenues required to be deposited into the special fund as provided
in subsection (2) of this section, shall be deposited into the State
Treasury to the credit of the General Fund.

(4)
Wholesalers who are entitled to purchase stamps at a discount, as
provided by Section 27-69-31, may have consigned to them, without advance
payment, those stamps, if and when the wholesaler * * * gives to
the commissioner a good and sufficient bond executed by some surety company
authorized to do business in this state, conditioned to secure the payment for
the stamps so consigned. The
commissioner shall require payment for those stamps not later than
thirty (30) days from the date the stamps were consigned.

27-69-31.
Dealers subject to the provisions of this chapter shall be allowed, as
compensation for their services in affixing the stamps * * * required by this chapter, a sum equal to
eight percent (8%) of the face value of the stamps purchased by them, except
as otherwise provided in Section 27-69-13(2); however, the commission shall
allow no discount on the purchase of stamps by wholesalers of an aggregate
amount of less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), and by retailers of an
aggregate amount of less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) in any one (1) order.

It is further provided that the
commissioner may, in his discretion, either reduce the compensation allowed, or
disallow any compensation for the affixing of stamps, for failure of the
dealer to comply with any provisions of the law or rules and regulations
promulgated by the commissioner.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1,
2004.